


Today Will Be Better

by IntelligentAirhead



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Genderfluid Sigma Klim, Moonbase Feeling Jams, Nonbinary Character, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4329213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntelligentAirhead/pseuds/IntelligentAirhead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An essential step in construction is tearing down what previously existed.<br/>It is not an easy step, and it is not made any easier when you never really wanted to build something new in the first place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Today Will Be Better

 Sigma was staring at the wall of their new room when they heard the knock.

“It’s open,” they said, and then clamped their mouth shut because of course it was open, they could see into the hallway. Akane didn’t even have to knock; it would’ve been just as easy to waltz in uninvited.

As it was, Akane stepped inside with a nod. “Getting settled in?” She asked, her tone sympathetic.

It pissed Sigma off. “Well, I have forty-five years or so to get settled, so I might as well start now, right?”

Sigma was prepared to feel like shit as soon as Akane apologised or reminded them that, hey, this is all vitally necessary to humankind’s continued existence. They got it, they realised that they were not more important than six billion people. Thanks for the reminder.

However, Akane had never been one for the predictable.

She sat down in the squishy office chair, somehow resisting the urge to spin around in it a few times. Sigma had tested it earlier, and it was surely up to the task.

From her place in the chair, Akane looked smaller, but her stare was no less intense. It was impossible even in the best of times to tell how old she was— up in her headspace, anyway — and it was harder still when she looked at someone with that expression. It was the same kind of watchful gaze that statues developed over time, measuring and ancient.

“Sigma,” she said, and Sigma started. They’d gotten lost in thinking, somewhere along the line, and some part of them felt like it’d best to stay lost.

It was in the way their name sounded less and less like it belonged to them, like it had a limited number of uses remaining. It was the way Akane looked, for a moment, as if she was genuinely regretful. It was the memory of Dr. Klim in a hologram, looking at them with the same eyes as Akane.  All of it made them want to retreat to the safety of their own head, or run until they reached the B. Garden, even if it was nothing like what it would be in forty-five years.

Instead, they took a deep breath, and listened.

“You and Phi wondered how I could let myself die,” Akane started. She worried her lip before continuing. “It’s a foreign idea to most, I understand. However, I have always been dead, just as I have always been alive. I explained this to you.”

Sigma nodded, but Akane was not done.

“Nonetheless, I believe that you deserve the full explanation.” She clasped her hands in her lap. “Akane Kurashiki is dead in this timeline. I killed her. There are timelines where she is alive, and without a doll because she left it behind in the midst of an escape, and she never had to sacrifice anything because nothing was at risk. There are timelines where she is dead, and I had no hand in killing her. There are timelines where she struggles to stay alive at the cost of billions dying around her.” She closed her eyes, and leaned her head back against the chair.

“I have had to kill parts of me and substitute them for others, so that I may be strong enough to save humanity. I am the Ship of Theseus, Sigma.”

Akane opened her eyes once more, and rose from the chair. “And someday, you will be too.”

Sigma watched her leave, their stomach clenching, and then looked down at their feet. It could have been an eternity or a moment that they sat there, mind blank and unfocused.

When they did, eventually speak, all they said was, “I never asked for this.”

But then again, neither did she.

* * *

Sigma found her in the rec room, sorting through the music on the jukebox.

The room looked different than they remembered. The knights weren’t in place, and the giant mechanical Zero— no, Lagomorph— was nowhere to be found.

“How are we gonna find Lagomorph a voice, anyway?” Sigma asked. “I mean, it’s not like we can just find a handy voice actor on the moon.”

Akane selected the song she wanted, and the room filled with the sound of slow guitar picking, punctuated by the occasional piano chord. She looked back over her shoulder, smiling.“Oh, we just have to assemble a voicebank from you and Kyle over time, and pitch the voice up or down accordingly.”

Sigma blinked. “Oh my god, there is no way that…” They squinted. “You’re just screwing with me, aren’t you?”

Akane’s eyes crinkled. “Yeah.” She turned back to the jukebox, cocking her head. “In reality, we already have a pretty extensive voicebank. It won’t be hard to pick out a voice for Lagomorph. It might actually be the easiest part of bringing it to life, come to think of it.”

Sigma nodded. “Yeah. You’re probably right about that.”

They were both silent as the song drifted to its end. “Do you want to choose the next one?” Akane offered, turning to step aside.

“Yeah,” Sigma said. “Thanks.” They stepped up to the jukebox, humming.The catalogue of songs to the side of the control panel was new. It took them a moment to sift through the selection.

Finally, they made their choice. A slow, electronic thrum that sounded almost like a cricket’s chirp rose up from the speakers, out of place when paired with the retro look of the jukebox. Sigma stepped away as the vocals began to kick in.

“Pretty contemporary music selection,” Sigma said, trying to come off as nonchalant.

Akane sighed. “Sadly, I’m afraid that we’ll be unable to update it much. The music industry is very likely extinguished now.”

“Nah,” Sigma said, after a moment. “Music’s a constant. People always want music, especially when they’re hurting. It takes the edge off the pain. Art’ll live on. Always does.”

Akane looked at them. “Perhaps you’re right.”

There was another beat of awkward silence, and then Sigma ran their hand through their hair. “Okay, look. We can’t keep doing this if we’re gonna be working together.” They sighed. “You kind of said it first, in your weird, cryptic, thousand-mile-stare kind of way. We’re the only ones who’ll ever understand what kind of shit the other has to or had to go through. That being the case…” Sigma held out their hand and tried to ignore the fact that it still felt weird to look at it without it being covered in ABT.

“Hi. I’m Sigma Klim, and I’m going to be your partner on this project,” Sigma said, smiling.

Akane’s brow wrinkled together, even as her lips quirked up. She took their hand. “Hello, Sigma Klim. I’m Akane Kurashiki, and I’ll be working with you.” Her eyes grew very soft and sad, all at once. “And I am sorry.”

Sigma nodded in acknowledgement. “Now that that’s settled: let’s get to work.”

Akane inclined her head. “That sounds like the best course of action.” After a pause, she continued. “Thank you, Sigma.”

They both let go at the same time.

**Author's Note:**

> The title takes its name from a song by Stars. The full title is Today Will Be Better, I Swear! but I felt the exclamation point might be a bit much for this fic.
> 
> Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about people feeling like they have to destroy essential components of themselves in order to achieve their goals. It makes me very upset, and so of course I have to write about it.
> 
> Also, for those who wondered, "Air, are you going to headcanon every video game protagonist as agender," here's your answer: a genderfluid headcanon.


End file.
